bound

bound¹ [baund]

the past tense and past participle of ↑bind

bound ²

bound² W3S2 adj [no comparative]

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1¦(likely)¦

2¦(law/agreement)¦

3¦(duty)¦

4¦(travelling towards)¦

5¦(relationship)¦

6 be bound up in something

7 be bound up with something

8 snow-bound/strike-bound/tradition-bound etc

9

10 I'll be bound

11 bound and determined

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[Sense: 1-3, 5-11; Date: 1300-1400; Origin: From the past participle of BIND¹]

[Sense: 4; Date: 1500-1600; : Old Norse; Origin: buinn, past participle of bua 'to live in a place, prepare'; probably influenced by the past participle bound]

1.) ¦(LIKELY)¦

be bound to

to be very likely to do or feel a particular thing

▪ Don't lie to her. She's bound to find out about it.

it is bound to be

(=used to say that something should have been expected)

▪ 'It's hot!' 'Well, it was bound to be, I just took it out of the oven.'

▪ When you are dealing with so many patients, mistakes are bound to happen .

2.) ¦(LAW/AGREEMENT)¦

be bound (by sth)

to be forced to do what a law or agreement says you must do

bound (by sth) to do sth

▪ The Foundation is bound by the treaty to help any nation that requests aid.

▪ You are legally bound to report the accident.

3.) ¦(DUTY)¦

be/feel bound to do sth

to feel that you ought to do something, because it is morally right or your duty to do it

▪ Ian felt bound to tell Joanna the truth.

▪ Well I'm bound to say (=I feel I ought to say) , I think you're taking a huge risk.

be duty bound/honour bound to do sth

▪ A son is duty bound to look after his mother.

4.) ¦(TRAVELLING TOWARDS)¦

bound for London/Mexico etc also London-bound/Mexico-bound etc

travelling towards a particular place or in a particular direction

▪ a plane bound for Somalia

▪ We tried to get seats on a Rome-bound flight.

▪ homeward-bound (=travelling towards home) commuters

northbound/southbound/eastbound/westbound

▪ All eastbound trains have been cancelled due to faulty signals.

5.) ¦(RELATIONSHIP)¦

be bound (together) by sth

if two people or groups are bound together by something, they share a particular experience or situation which causes them to have a relationship

→↑unite

▪ The two nations were bound together by a common history.

6.) be bound up in sth

to be very involved in something, so that you cannot think about anything else

▪ He was too bound up in his own problems to listen to any of mine.

7.) be bound up with sth

to be very closely connected with a particular problem or situation

▪ Mark's problems are all bound up with his mother's death when he was ten.

▪ The people of Transkei began to realize that their future was inseparably bound up with that of South Africa.

8.) snow-bound/strike-bound/tradition-bound etc

controlled or limited by something, so that you cannot do what you want or what other people want you to

▪ a fog-bound airport

▪ people who are wheelchair-bound

▪ a desk-bound sergeant (=having to work in an office, instead of doing a more active job)

9.) a bound book is covered on the outside with paper, leather etc

→↑bind bound in

▪ a Bible bound in Moroccan leather

▪ a leather-bound volume of Shakespeare's plays

10.) I'll be bound

old-fashioned used when you are very sure that what you have just said is true

▪ He had good reasons for doing that, I'll be bound.

11.) bound and determined

AmE very determined to do or achieve something, especially something difficult

▪ Klein is bound and determined to win at least five races this year.

bound ³

bound³ v

[Sense: 1; Date: 1500-1600; : Old French; Origin: bondir, from Vulgar Latin bombitire 'to hum', from Latin bombus; BOMB¹]

[Sense: 2; Date: 1500-1600; Origin: BOUND⁴1]

1.) [I always + adverb/preposition]

to run with a lot of energy, because you are happy, excited, or frightened

bound up/towards/across etc

▪ Suddenly a huge dog came bounding towards me.

2.) be bounded by sth

if a country or area of land is bounded by something such as a wall, river etc, it has the wall etc at its edge

▪ a yard bounded by a wooden fence

▪ The US is bounded in the north by Canada and in the south by Mexico.

bound ⁴

bound⁴ n

[Sense: 1-2, 4-5; Date: 1300-1400; : Old French; Origin: bodne, from Medieval Latin bodina]

[Sense: 3, 6; Date: 1500-1600; : Old French; Origin: bond, from bondir; BOUND³2]

1.) bounds [plural]

a) the limits of what is possible or acceptable

within the bounds of sth

▪ We are here to make sure that the police operate within the bounds of the law.

be/go beyond the bounds of credibility/reason/decency etc

▪ The humor in the movie sometimes goes beyond the bounds of good taste.

be within/beyond the bounds of possibility

(=be possible/not possible)

▪ It was not beyond the bounds of possibility that they could meet again.

b) old-fashioned the edges of a town, city etc

2.) out of bounds

if a place is out of bounds, you are not allowed to go there

American Equivalent: off-limitsout of bounds to/for

▪ The path by the railway line is officially out of bounds to both cyclists and walkers.

3.) by leaps and bounds/in leaps and bounds

BrE if someone or something increases, develops etc by leaps and bounds, they increase etc very quickly

▪ Julie's reading is improving in leaps and bounds.

4.) know no bounds

formal if someone's honesty, kindness etc knows no bounds, they are extremely honest etc

5.) in bounds/out of bounds

inside or outside the legal playing area in a sport such as American football or ↑basketball

6.)

a long or high jump made with a lot of energy